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11111114 W& l^s^onderS^
OX the day that Queen Hilwiim
disappeared from the royal t al
ace a giant huntsman came to
dwell in a rude hut built near
the edge of a large forest. To
all win; asked his name he answered
•^Dickon," ami .-non lie became known far
r-xd wide liv tli.' name 'f Dickon Bend
fie-Bow. He was so called because no
arm but his own had the strength to bend
the great bow which he carried, nor the
■kill to Bend the sharp arrow home as
true to us mark, whither that might be
tin- heart of the bounding stag or the
feathered breast of the wild gc in foil
Sight. A great, rough, saggy-bearded man
was Dickon Bend-the Bow, with a voice
as rash as the growl of a bear and with
the strength of ten men in the brawn of
i;is huge frame.
ily the ten years slipped into the
while the beautiful queen lay, like
the dead, in the crystal coffin, and the lit
tle maid, her daughter, grew with each
year yet more wise and lovely, and the
giant huntsman hunted in tho great
woods.
One morning, when the end of the tenth
year had come, as Dickon Bend-the-Bow
sat on the large flat rock which formed
the door stone to his lonely hut. he heard
a light step coming down the house path,
and, glancing]y quickly up, saw, to his
great astonishment, a young maiden has
tening toward him.
Now Dickcn Bend-the Bow was such a
huge s Bhagg} -haired, rough-rooking mon
ster, and had such a deep, gruff voice that
most children tied at the sight of his giant
form or the sound of his terrible voice.
But this little maid marched right boldly
up the door stone whereon he s-~at, and,
with never a look of fear in her bright
blue eyes, .said: "Dickon Bend-thc Bow, I
have come for thee. Make thyself ready
to do my bidding. By this token I com
mand thy services," and she held forth In
the palm THtf ST. PAUIr, .^tOßfij-^BUNIJATy MAY 25, 1902.
grew warm, and, throbbing with thy love,
told how thou art ready to serve me and
mine, even with thy heart's blood. Now,
good Dickon Bend-the-Bow, lift the great
flat stone whereon thou were sealed when
first I came to thee."
The giant bent his back, and, grasping
the stone underneath one side, he heaved
with might and main. The great stone
groaned, and, slowly starting from its
doep bed, arose, until by a mighty effort
the giant threw it over backward. At the
bottom of the depression thus brought to
view gleamed the polished surface of a
square block of white marble. From an
opening near the- center of this block ran
the links of a great iron chain.
"Now good Dickon Bend-the-Bow,"
Fonhilda said, pointing to the block,
"seize the chain and pull with all thy
might, and pause not until the bucket of
gold leaps into thy hands. This bucket
hangs with its mouth downward, and no
man knows the size of its opening nor
how fast the precious fluid flows from it.
But this I know; if it be empty when it
comes to thy hand, thou must dieyfor it
is a charmed well, and he who would
draw from it and fails to bring to the
surface enough .water to moisten his lips
must perish. Now, good Dickon Bend-the-
Bow, thou knowest the great need of
haste, so put forth all thy strength."
Without making reply Dickon Bend-th-e-
Bow shook his great shaggy head, threw
the short cloak of bear skin from off his
massive shoulders, tightened the broad
belt around his waist, and,, bending for
ward, grasped the iron chain. He pulled
until cords and sinews stood out like knot
ted whipcords on his great arms and neck.
Then the chain gave way and he began
to draw it slowly through the marble
opening.
At first it came tardily and with great
difficulty, but soon the pulling became
easier, and Dickon Bend-the-Bow, putting
One of the most beautifully marked and
queerest-shaped fish is the trigger fish,
though it is sometimes called file fish
and leather jacket. The reason why it is
called trigger fish is owing to a big fin
on top of its back just behind and over
its eyes. When this fin is erected the nrst
ray or bone cannot be depressed, but if
you were to press on the second bone of
the fin the first would immediately fall
like the hammer of a gun when the trig
ger is pulled.
Not all of this species are marked alike,
NUMBERS AND NAMES—A RECESS GAME.
Boys and girls have thtfr lessons In
geography, in arithmetic, to botony, in
natural history and in the history of their
own and of other countries, but the irnst
important thing after all is their study of
the English language. A thorough knowl
edge of their own tongue is what they
need as the foundation stone of success
in the life they will enter when they grow
up.
Anything that will help them in this
study is of great value, and some things
that may seem comparatively unimpor
tant often do a great deal of good. Here
is a little game, for example, that com
mends itself especially in this way. It
seems to be merely an amusement for an
hour, but it has an educational value
much beyond that. Besides—and this is
a mighty good point—it is a particularly
fascinating game.
If you intend to use it as a recess game,
appoint a leader the day before it is to
be played, and let him select a word of
from seven to twelve letters which con
tains several vowels. He is not to make
known this word until the time comes for
beginning the game, when he is to write
it plainly on the blackboard, so that all
the players may readily see it.
Each player has a sheet of paper and a
pencil, and when the word has been writ
ten on the blackboard they all set to
work at the same time. What they have
to do is to form as many words as they
can out of the word on the board, using
each letter only as many times as it ap
pears in the word. A certain time is ftl
lowed within which the work must be
done, and the player that forms the most
words wins the game.
"When the papers have been finished they
are all to be handed to the leader, who
examines them to see that the words have
been correctly formed, and then awards
the prize. If a blackboard be not con
venient, the word may be written at the
top of each sheet of paper used by the
players, for it must be where they may
constantly see it.
As an example of what may be done
with a word, take schedule, a word of
eight letters. Now, it does not take us
long to find the following words in it:
See, seed, seel, scud, seduce, she, shed,
Sheel, sled. sue. such, cede, cedes, chu<3,
be, heel, hoed, hcds, hele, hue, hues, fch,
forth all his strength and quickness, made
the links smoke with the heat of their
rapid passage.
The chain seemed endless. Minute after
minute went by until an hour had passed,
and still link followed link to rapid suc
cession.
The tremendous strain was beginning to
tell even on the iron frame of the hunts
man. His breath came in quick, labored
gasps; the marble block was wet, as from
a shower of ra;n, with the falling sweat
drops. His great limbs trembled, and tne
blrod rushing to his head blinded him.
Still link rattled merrily after link.
The iron wore through the tough skin of
his hands. Every grasp left its mark of
red on the links. The piled up chain by
his side reached to the height of his
shoulder. His huge body began to sway
back and forth and his trembling knets
to bend.
Fonhilda stocd by the side of the marble
block. Her face was as white as the
stone. She was watching a race with
death. She saw that the strength of the
giant was fast failing. She noticed hia
flushed face, his labored breathing, his
trembling limbs and bloodshot eyes. She
saw his huge shoulders begin to sway,
his knees to sink as though he was about
to fall, and, with a quick cry of agony,
sank on her knees.
"Good Dickon Bend-the-Bow!" she ex
claimed, "thou must not fail! Think on
what depends on thee! The life of the
Lady of the Pierced Heart and thine own
existence hang at the end of the chain!
Look, once again, on the heart, the symbol
of thy lady's wronged and suffering life,
and make one last mighty effort!" and she
extended her hands, with the golden heart
within them, imploringly toward him.
Dickon Bend-the-Bow turned his eye?
for a moment on the heart. He says that
it was again throbbing, as with life, and
that the red drops were falling. The sight
sent the strength back into his exhausted
limbs. He thought of the fate of his
lady should h« fail, on his own death,
and at the thought the sparks flew from
the marble opening as though the chain
had set fire to the stone with the heat
of its swift passage.
Suddenly the top of the block flew apart
with a loud noise and the bucket of gold
leaped through the opening. A small
stream of an amber-colored fluid was
slowly trickling from its mouth. With a
shout of joy Fonhilda sprang forward and
set the bucket upright. She then quickly
unclasped from a gold chain around her
neck a silver flash and filled it with the
precious fluid. The flash was not large,
but when it was filled the bucket was
empty.
The chain and the golden bucket now
fell back of themselves into the well and
the top of the marble block came together
again, so that the square block of marble,
with the great chain protruding from the
opening near the center, looked just as it
had when first the flat stone had been
lifted.
Dickon Bend-the-Bow lay like the dead
where he had fallen the instant his hand
touched the bucket. Fonhilda placed the
flask to his mouth and moistened his lips
] those that are found on the coast of
China being darker than those living in
the Atlantic. In color the specimens at
the aquarium are a yellow pearl gray, of
a warm tone, with beautiful rose-colored
stripes radiating from the eyes to the
top of the head. A strong blue-green
wavy line, or band, of color runs from
the mouth back to the end of the gills.
The mouth is very small, with long teeth.
In general appearance trigger fish look
as if some boy had been trying the con-
eel, elude, eludes, educe, dee, dees, dele,
duel, due, dues, duce, deuce, duse, us, use,
used, ult, lee, lees, leed, led, lech, leche,
luce.
There are forty-six different words
formed out of one word of fight letters,
and perhaps you may find more; try it.
Let us act as your leader for the first
game, and give you the word democrat.
You will be surprised at the number of
words you can make out of that. By the
way, we don't give you this word in a
party sense, but with its original and
great meaning, which is, "the people
rule."
ANOTHER PARROT STORY.
A New York woman owned a parrot
that was a great talker and a v.it. Like
mcst people who love parrots this wom
an was never tired of boasting of the ac
complishments of her bird. But for one
sad fault that Polly had she would have
been "too good to live." She Was an in
corrigible thief, or rather a kleptomaniac;
for, impelled by that mysterious power
that moves kleptomaniacs, she stole some
thing for which she had not the least
use on earth, and stole that thing in sea.
son and out of season. Polly's irresistible
was pickles. Whenever she was unchain,
ed she would get at any and every kind
of a receptacle that contained pickles
and purloin them to the last one.
Cooks are given more leeway in the
matter of temper than most other mortals,
and the better cook she is the more her
temper is tolerated.
It not infrequently happens that Polly's
abode is in the domain of the cook. This
New York woman's cook had stood Polly's
pilfering of the pickles until she was
mad enough at the bird to wring its neck.
That was the situation, and it cannot be
wondered at that the cook seized a cup
of hot water and threw It on the bird.
Polly's head was pretty badly scalded.
She lost all her feathers, was juat as balcl
as she could be, and from that day on
ward no one could get tier to speak a
word. All the pride in her accomplish
ments had vanished with the feathers
from her head. Her mistress thought
that Polly was not feeling well, and that
as soon as the feathers grew on her head
with the amber water. At once his
strength came back and all his weariness
fled, and he stood up, feeling like one who
had just arisen from a refreshing sleep.
She rubbed a few drops of the magical
fluid over his bruised and bleeding hands.
The worn flesh and skin came in new and
the hands were made whole. She then fas
tened the precious flask to the gold chain
around her neck.
"Now, good Dickon Bend-the-Bow,
place the great flat stone back over the
well," she commanded.
Dickon Bend-the-Bow did as bidden.
Again Fonhilda „ commanded, "Get thy
great bow and air thy longest and sharp
est arrows and follow me."
, Straightway Dickon Bind-the-Bow en
tered the hut, lifted the great bow from
off its deer horn hooks, slung a quiver
well filled with arrows of great length
over his shoulder, tightened the b, It
his waist, and signified to the girl that
he was ready.
(To Be Continued.)
SAVING UP.
I'm savin' up. Ma bought a bank
With a sojer on it thet turns a crank
Fer ev'ry penny I drop in.
An' den he doesn't move again
'Till another cent comes clickety click.
An' nen the sojer does his trick.
I got it day 'fore yesterday.
But jest already I've put away
A bran' new nickel an' seven cents.
Mother says I'm doin immense,
An', purty soon, thet I kin buy
A shirt like pa's an' a regular tie.
But pa says, "Don't be gittin' gay.
You're goin" to be a man some day,
An' now you'd better save yer tin,
So's nen you kin buy a house to live in,
With a barn an' a hoss an' a kerridge,
An' a cow what'll give good milk for
An' Uncle Bill don't believe in banks.
He says they wuz only made fer cranKs;
Besides, they wuz bustin' every day,
An' half the time they wouldn't pay.
"An* ez fer me," he says, " my sock
Is bank enough for Billy Rock!"
Late thet night ma sez: "Now, Jo.sh,
Don't listen to Uncle Billy's b-sh!
He'll loaf all day an' set an' chat.
He never got married nor nothin' like
that;
He ain't model fer you." But still
I got the nickel from Uncle Bill.
I'm savin' up, but how I'd thank
My ma fer a gun instead o' thet bank.
A bank's all right fer a man, I guess,
'Cause he's got folks to feed an' dreps;
But a gun thet'll shoot an' make some
noise,
Ah, thar's the gift to give to boys.
—Maurice Brown Kirby.
tents of his paint box on thf-ir bodies,
such is the variety and clearness of the
'el- ring. The red stripes from the eyes
make you think of the clown at the cir
cus, who paints his face with reds and
blues
The specimens of the trigger fish at
the aquarium came from the coast of
Bermuda. Many people think that the
trigger fish is not good to eat, and it
was considered poisonous for a long time,
but such is not the case, as its flesh ia
very weet and nutritious.
she would begin to talk again. And
was a doleful looking sight, sure eni
with no feathers on the to;» of her
"in the place where the feathers ought
to grow."
The story of her sins and punishmi-nt
was told to every chance visitor that
came to the house. These people would
look at Polly, laugh most heartily,
say: "Well, well, hello, Pollyf So
steal pickles, do you?" But all cf these
remarks met with a dignified and queen
ly silenof from the bird, whose mistress
was in despair, thinking that her parrot
would never talk again.
Pelly had been taken out of reach of
further harm from the cook, and now
lived in a gilt cage in the parlor. One
evening an exquisite of the masculine
gender, a regular Beau Brummel up t>
date, called. How well pleased he was
with himself, his clothes and the way
he ado:ned them was plain to be seen.
He was even unconscious of his shiny,
bald head. When Polly got sight ot
this model of the tailor\s art she turn
ed her h-ead first on one side, then on the
other, and screamed out: "Hell": Well,
well, have you been stealing pickles, too?"
and from that day forth she was as full
of chatter as ever.
Wtl in Her Clusm, Tlmkiuli.
Col. Jack Cninn generally tells stories
of blood-curdling Kentucky shootings,
but sometimes he stoops to peaceful an
ecdotes.
There came to his town not long ago,
he said the other day, a young woman
who hailed from another Southern city,
where she considered herself "the real
thing." "While in the Chirm neighborhood
she attained some popularity, and her
opinion of her own exclusiveness grew
apace. She became imbued with the idea
that the elite of the visited city were at
her feet.
One of her callers, a likely young man,
drifted Into autobiography during a Sun
day evening visit to the house at which
she was staying.
"In the morning," he said, "I have to
dust off the counters and brush up the
store."
"What?" she cried.
"Oh, it's not such very hard work
only a trifle monotonous."
"What are you, anyway?" she asked.
"Why.l'm a clerk in a dry goods sore."
"In my town, sir," she exclaimed,
drawing herself up haughtily, "dry $
clerks do not mingle in the best society."
do they here," he answered.—New
York Timeg.
ANCHORED,
5$ cut iLIJ Lck^K^-^.
L.H -—— 11 If
Jane, Clarence, Harry, Rake nud
May
Have Started for the Milky \\ a > .
But mamma* H tern, relentless crip
PoMtponeM their little nUynnnl !■';«,
But just .siiniio.se that abe wh'uilii
Mllp!
The ground ia forty feet away,
I think Hlie'tl be inclined to whip .
June, Clarence Hurry, Robe anil
Ma >.